I’m reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho right now. I’ve read several of his other books, and I have really enjoyed them. Yesterday, after posting about sabotaging my own success, I read this passage in the book:

…before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which most people give up. It’s the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one ‘dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.’

Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And every search ends with the victor’s being severely tested.

This really struck a chord with me. Are the struggles and challenges I am facing right now testing me to see how well I have learned my lessons? Are they testing me to see if I am really committed to my goals?

I’ve been saying for a couple of years that change is coming. More recently, in the last few months, I’ve begun saying that change is happening. I truly feel that this change is for the good, it is a positive change for me.

I don’t know that I could identify exactly what the change is right now. It is often only when something has completed that I can look back and say, “Yes, that is what happened.” While it is occurring, I can’t necessarily read all the signs and symbols clearly because I am in the midst of them.

I am grateful for all the challenges I have faced in my life, recently and in the more distant past. Each “negative” experience has helped me to have compassion for other people’s experiences, and to appreciate even more the blessings that I have been given.

I feel I am on the cusp of change – balancing on one foot with the other out in front of me. I don’t know exactly where my foot is going to land, or what will rise up to support me. I can’t see that from here. I am calm and nervous, confident and anxious, not sure whether I will fall or fly.

I am filled at this moment with gratitude, and a sense of expectancy. I expect good things to come to me. What we anticipate, we create. So I am anticipating good things coming to me!